3:35 pm - As I battle some laptop issues, let’s get some news and notes from today’s practice out first.

Joey MacDonald took a puck in the neck while putting in some extra time with his teammates at the end of practice. He left the ice immediately. While it did not appear to be very serious, the Islanders did not have an update on MacDonald’s status.

Trent Hunter had a doctor’s appointment. As of 3:30 pm, the Islanders had not provided an update on the right wing. Radek Martinek practiced, but Scott Gordon did not make it seem as if the defenseman’s return will be tomorrow when the Islanders host Florida in a New Year’s Eve matinee.

Rick DiPietro took the full practice and a little extra work. After practice, both DiPietro and Gordon spoke with reporters but said nothing of substance about his health.

On the other hand, a very introspective Doug Weight met with the same reporters and said a lot. I’ll have more on this later today, but I will cut to the chase: he loves Gordon and said he feels better and is playing his best hockey in more than five years thanks, in part, to the head coach. Weight also expressed his love for and faith in Garth Snow and the organization and spoke of how well Long Island and Islanders fans have treated him and his family.

And in a perfect world, Weight does not want to be traded. His preference is to stay with the Islanders and be part of the solution to turn things around. More later.